This page contains some photos from a mid-winter Sunday snowshoe to the summit of West Granite Mountain. There were seven of us on this trip: Brett, Gabriel, Lindsay, Carla, Rad, Eric, and me. As usual, everyone else was from Seattle while I drove down from Bellingham (but also as usual, it was worth the drive.) West Granite Mountain (also known as "Tusk O'Granite") is the high point on the ridge to the northwest of Granite Mountain just off I-90 at Exit 47. West Granite is just 65 feet lower in elevation than Granite Mountain.

With its proximity to Seattle, the lookout on the top of Granite Mountain, and the views of Chair and Kaleetan Peaks to the north, Rainier to the south, as well as mountains all the way to Lemah, Chimney Rock, and Mt. Stuart, the Granite Mountain area is an extremely popular destination. On a summer day, the summit of Granite can be quite crowded. A great way to avoid the crowds is in the winter, when a great day can be had by snowshoeing to one of the Granite Mountain summits (or both, by connecting the ridge between them). Although the lookout on top of Granite seems to make it the obvious choice, often the choice of which summit to go to is determined by the snow conditions — while the timbered ridge of West Granite is safe most days of the winter, the open slopes of Granite Mountain are subject to dangerous snow slides.

Because of the moderate to considerable avalanche forecast, we chose West Granite as our destination for the day. No one had been up there the previous day, so we had a pristine ridgeline to enjoy as we cut tracks to the summit. It was a pleasant calm day with great views and great company.

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